TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS MONDAY, OCT. 24, the 298th day of 2016. There are 68 days left in the year. TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY:
On this date in 1962, a naval quarantine of Cuba ordered by President John F. Kennedy went into effect during the missile crisis.
In 1537, Jane Seymour, the third wife of England’s King Henry VIII, died 12 days after giving birth to Prince Edward, later King Edward VI.
In 1648, the Peace of Westphalia ended the Thirty Years War and effectively destroyed the Holy Roman Empire.
In 1861, the first transcontinental telegraph message was sent by Chief Justice Stephen J. Field of California from San Francisco to President Abraham Lincoln in Washington, D.C., over a line built by the Western Union Telegraph Co.
In 1936, the short story “The Devil and Daniel Webster” by Stephen Vincent Benet was published in “The Saturday Evening Post.”
In 1939, DuPont began publicly selling its nylon stockings in Wilmington, Del. Benny Goodman and His Orchestra recorded their signature theme, “Let’s Dance,” for Columbia Records in New York.
In 1945, the United Nations officially came into existence as its charter took effect.
In 1952, Republican presidential candidate Dwight D. Eisenhower declared in Detroit “I shall go to Korea” as he promised to end the conflict. He made the visit over a month later.
In 1972, Hall-of-Famer Jackie Robinson, who had broken Major League Baseball’s color barrier in 1947, died in Stamford, Conn., at age 53.
In 1980, the merchant freighter SS
Poet departed Philadelphia, bound for Port Said, Egypt, with a crew of 34 and a cargo of grain; it disappeared en route and has not been heard from since.
In 1991, “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry died in Santa Monica, Calif., at age 70.
In 1996, TyRon Lewis, 18, a black motorist, was shot to death by police during a traffic stop in St. Petersburg, Fla.; the incident sparked rioting. Officer James Knight, who said that Lewis had lurched his car at him several times, knocking him onto the hood, was cleared by a grand jury and the Justice Department.
In 2002, authorities apprehended Army veteran John Allen Muhammad and teenager Lee Boyd Malvo near Myersville, Md., in the Washingtonarea sniper attacks. Malvo was later sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole; Muhammad was sentenced to death and executed in 2009.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Football Hall-of-Famer Y.A. Tittle is 90. Rock musician Bill Wyman is 80. Actor F. Murray Abraham is 77. Movie directorscreenwriter David S. Ward is 71. Actor Kevin Kline is 69. Country musician Billy Thomas (Terry McBride and the Ride) is 63. Actor Doug Davidson is 62. Actor B.D. Wong is 56. Actor Zahn McClarnon is 50. Singer Michael Trent (Americana duo Shovels & Rope) is 39. Rock musician Ben Gillies (Silverchair) is 37. Singer-actress Monica Arnold and actress-comedian Casey Wilson are 36. Rhythm-and-blues singer Adrienne Bailon (3lw) is 33. Actor Tim Pocock is 31. Actresses Shenae Grimes and Eliza Taylor are 27. Olympic gold medal gymnast Kyla Ross is 20. Actor Hudson Yang is 13.